What is possible, though, is to let the customer know when their subscription will start. They may not be delighted that it’s taking six weeks, but at least they are reassured by the fact that they are being kept informed.

Doing this will also save bureaus and publishers money – one of the biggest number of subscription queries is around sub start dates. By telling the customer when they will receive their first issue a whole slew of telephone calls and emails are taken out of the system.

It will also make publishers and bureaus money, as one of the biggest drivers of renewal performance is the efficiency and speed of the initial subscription set up.

Development-wise it’s pretty simple to do, and our IT team are happy to provide any assistance that is needed. The file we send across each week has the relevant data appended to it and comes back to us.

The publishers I’ve spoken to love the idea. The bureaus I’ve spoken to think it will be great for customer service.

But so far, no one has agreed to do it. The bureaus blame the publishers; the publishers blame the bureaus.